Database auditing is the monitoring of selected actions of
database users. It doesn’t protect the database in case
privileges are set incorrectly, but it can help the administrator
detect mistakes.

Audits are needed for security. You can track data access and be
alerted to suspicious activity. Audits are required for data
integrity. They are the only way to validate that changes made to
data are correct and legal.

There are several regulations that require database audits:

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 is a US federal law that
regulates how financial data must be handled and protected.

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